Labour mulls 60% top rate income tax

Shadow chancellor reveals plans

Labour will reject austerity as a means to get the economy back on track and will instead focus on taxing the rich, shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has said in his Labour Party Conference speech on Monday.

In his first conference speech, McDonnell said Labour sought to address the deficit by raising "fair and progressive" taxes and he had told ITV News putting the top rate of income tax up from 45% to 60% "will be part of the debate we have". He had already previously said he wanted to raise the income tax threshold to 50%, a policy which had been backed by his predecessor Ed Balls. McDonnell said he wanted to change the "economic discourse" in the country and secure "dynamic growth", the BBC reported. Clamping down on tax avoidance by corporations was also on the agenda as was a tax...